Vancouver theatremakers win 2020-21 Dan Fund Commissions from Toronto's The Musical Stage Company
Niall McNeil, Lucy McNulty, and Anton Lipovetsky’s Cowboy Tempest Cabaret and Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille’s The Girl Who Trod Upon a Loaf receive commissions
Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille
VANCOUVER IS proving itself to be a hotbed for new musicals, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest evidence is that Toronto’s The Musical Stage Company has awarded commissions from its Aubrey & Maria Dan Fund for New Musicals to two separate creative teams from this city.
One of the commissions is Cowboy Tempest Cabaret, with book by Niall McNeil, Lucy McNulty, and Anton Lipovetsky; Lipovetsky is writing the music while McNeil is responsible for lyrics. Intriguingly, it’s described as a country-and-western spin on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
The other commission is The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf with book, music and lyrics by Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille. Based on Kathryn Davis’s book of the same name, it tells the story of fictional Danish lesbian opera composer Helle Ten Brix.
Niall McNeil in King Arthur’s Night. Photo by Tristan Casey
You’ll remember Cowboy’s McNeil from Neworld Theatre’s King Arthur’s Night, a fantastical rendition of the King Arthur legend that included performers and creators with Down Syndrome; it debuted at 2018’s PuSh Festival.
As for Lipovetsky, the Studio 58 alumnus was announced as the Musical Stage Company’s newest Crescendo Series artist in July. He’s been working alongside bookwriter Steven Gallagher to create another musical called Blackout, which is scheduled to debut next year as part of the Musical Stage Company’s 2020-21 season; it tells three stories of connection that unfolded when Toronto was thrown into the dark in a real electrical shutdown that happened in 2003. As a Crescendo artist, Lipovetsky receives a $30,000 bursary, dramaturgical support, international advocacy, and promotion, as well as a full productions of two of his musicals.
Steven Gallagher and Anton Lipovetsky are scheduled to debut their new work Blackout at The Musical Stage in 2021. Photo by Dahlia Katz
Meanwhile, Gladstone and Hille have already collaborated on the hit musical Onegin, which was also produced at The Musical Stage Company and appeared here at the Arts Club Theatre.
The Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals is the country's first fund to be earmarked exclusively for the commissioning of new Canadian musical works. It's managed by The Musical Stage Company and funded by The Aubrey & Marla Dan Foundation. Commissions are awarded $8,000 to cover a five-week writing period, and a private reading of the first draft.
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